SUPERANNUATION

Why Aussies aren't contributing more to super

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The annual Love Your Super survey from Money reveals how Australians feel about our retirement nest egg, and shines a light on why we're not contributing more.

Australians come in all shapes, sizes, colours and creeds. The common thread is that the vast majority of us have superannuation savings.

The good news is that we're taking more of an interest in our super.

money's love your super campaign for 2023

Close to one in two Australians check their super monthly, while 17% look in on their account every pay day.

On the downside, over one in four people admit to having multiple super funds - up from fewer than one in five last year.

This can see more of us doubling up on fund fees and insurance premiums, which will eat into our retirement savings.

One reason for the jump in multiple balances may be that no one fund meets our expectations.

While almost all Australians (91%) want their super to earn high returns, the rest of our wish list is varied, and includes:

  • Easy-to-use apps and websites: 53%
  • Transparency around investments: 50%
  • Great customer service: 41% 
  • Ethical investing: 19%

How often Aussies change super funds

Nonetheless, one aspect of super stands out. Once we sign up to a fund, we rarely move on.

In the last five years, only one in three of us have changed or consolidated funds. More than one in five (22%) have never changed funds at all.

Part of this 'loyalty' could boil down to the fact that most Australians (56%) say they understand super but wish it was easier.

Our tendency to join a fund and stay indefinitely certainly isn't always a sign of satisfaction.

Fewer than 12% of us are happy with our super balance.

why aussies aren

What's stopping us from contributing more to superannuation

One in three (30%) Australians point to the cost-of-living crunch, 10% say they are concerned about possible future changes to super, and others are simply in the dark about how to make contributions.

But more one than in four (29%) of us admits nothing is stopping us from contributing more to super.

Maybe 2024 could be the year we all aim to get our super growing.

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A former Chartered Accountant, Nicola Field has been a regular contributor to Money for 20 years, and writes on personal finance issues for some of Australia's largest financial institutions. She is the author of Investing in Your Child's Future and Baby or Bust, and has collaborated with Paul Clitheroe on a variety of projects including radio scripts, newspaper columns, and several books.
Comments
Matt Maney
December 15, 2023 6.36pm

Ringfencing is stopping me from contributing more to super. Labor are sycophant liars who prey on the weak, they think they own you if you put money in "their super system" and cannot be trusted if you show them any weakness.

Stuart Scoles
December 27, 2023 4.56pm

Hi

I'm 64, will work FT until I retire in over 3 years @ $63K PA. I have $260K in Super & by my estimate will exceed the ATO/Centrelink Single Homeowners Asset limit of $301K

Why shouldn't I get a maximum pension for all the taxes I will have paid for 50 years???

The governments just keep finding more ways to screw the average hard working Aussie

Comment please

Paul Novotny
January 6, 2024 8.41am

This is true your our tax seem to fund non productive beurocrats and politicians super. The amount of these public servants who are supposed to be working for US needs to be reduced